Moscow

I've got about an hour until my next adventure. Let me tell you about a typical day in Moscow.

I walk from my flat down Mozhaiskiy street with the metro station waiting for me at the end, the bright red M shining like a beacon. Just beyond Studencheskaya station, on a clear day, you can see the Russian Acadamy of Sciences, and as you approach Studencheskaya you see track after track leading to the Kievskiy train station, the terminus and origin for many south-western bound trains (Such as ones to Kiev). The metro from this station pops up above ground again as it crosses the Moscow river, from which you catch sight of the Russian white house, the imposing main building of Moscow State University, and a second look at the Kievskiy station.

Our university sits in a triangle formed by three metro stations, and we have a choice of two to debark. The first one leads to a ho-hum walk past another of the seven sisters : the ministry of foreign affairs, and down Arbat street, a 1km long pedestrian street once home to Pushkin and one of the oldest streets in Moscow. The second station (my favorite) leads you down Gogolskiy boulevard, a street split down the middle by a wide park. From a statue of Gogol to a sculpture of Mikhail Sholokov you walk down a cobblestone path arched by trees. Turning down Sivtsev vrazhek, you pass by a sculpture park and you're at our university in the heart of Moscow.

Class usually starts 15 minutes ago, so you excuse yourself and quickly and quietly sit down. We have a wonderful lunch lady, have a delicious lunch, and an hour later we sit for our second class. Do some chores, wanna come over to my place for some tea?, make some dinner, chat with my chatty flatmate (she's a girl... she constantly talks), do some homework, rinse and repeat.

Now I'm off to pick up a power cable from the last tennants of my flat who now live by the Patriarschiy ponds, see some friends at the dorm, and pack for my second attempt to get to Voronezh. This time I have valid documents, not just in theory, but in hand.

See you Sunday!